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GetUp Get Big Money out of politics.

Yesterday morning, I stood with dozens of GetUp members and fronted the media with a message: it's time to get Big Money out of politics.

We were speaking outside the Four Seasons luxury hotel in Sydney. Inside, behind closed doors, Prime Minister Turnbull and NSW Liberal Party elites were rubbing shoulders with corporate bigwigs and fossil fuel magnates.

It was a rare glimpse into the mechanics of our rigged political system, where political and business elites make decisions out of the public eye – where people like you and me are denied a voice.

For too long, corporate cash has flooded our political system, drowning out the voices of everyday people. That's why, as the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Matters conducts a far-reaching inquiry into the last election, we'll work to expose the corrupting influence of big dollar pay-offs on our politics.

But in order to make our voices heard over powerful vested interests, we need to join together – tens of thousands of Australians calling for reform of our broken system of political finance.

Since the GetUp movement's massive impact in the 2016 election, the hard-right faction of the Coalition have been looking for revenge, trying every trick in the book to curb our power.

Rumour has it, the likes of Eric Abetz and Cory Bernardi will try to use the upcoming election inquiry to push through undemocratic restrictions on what independent organisations (like GetUp) can say and do.

It's not just a dirty power grab – it's a desperate ploy to distract from the reforms we should be talking about: the billionaires and massive corporations that are exploiting our broken political system to buy special favours and undue influence.

That's why we're going to shine a bright light into the dark places of our political system and force our politicians to make a choice.

They can choose to stand with a powerful, burgeoning movement of everyday Australians gearing up to rebuild our democracy – or they can cower behind the billionaires and massive corporations that think they own our political system.

The only cure for corporate power is people-power, and we'll need more of it than ever to take them on.

It starts today.
Paul, for the GetUp team
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